1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manufacturing method for devices formed in a plurality of partitioned regions defined by a plurality of crossing separation lines formed on the upper surface of a wafer, wherein the wafer is separated into the individual devices along the separation lines and an adhesive film for die bonding is mounted on the lower surface of each device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a semiconductor device fabrication process, the upper surface of a substantially disk-shaped semiconductor wafer is formed with a plurality of crossing streets (separation lines) to thereby define a plurality of partitioned regions arranged like a matrix, and a plurality of devices such as ICs and LSIs are formed in these partitioned regions. The semiconductor wafer is cut along these separation lines to separate the partitioned regions, thus fabricating the individual devices. As a separating device for separating the semiconductor wafer into the individual devices, a cutting unit called a dicing unit is generally used. The cutting unit includes a cutting blade having a thickness of about 40 μm for cutting the semiconductor wafer along the separation lines. The separated devices thus obtained are packaged to be widely used in electronic equipment such as a mobile phone and a personal computer.
An adhesive film for die bonding called a die attach film is mounted on the lower surface of each device. The adhesive film is formed of epoxy resin or the like and has a thickness of 70 to 80 μm. Each device is bonded through the adhesive film to a die bonding frame by heating, so that each device is supported to the die bonding frame. As a method of mounting the adhesive film to the lower surface of each device, the following method is known in the art. First, an original adhesive film is attached to the lower surface of a semiconductor wafer. Thereafter, the semiconductor wafer is attached through this adhesive film to a dicing tape. Thereafter, both the semiconductor wafer and the adhesive film attached thereto are cut along the separation lines formed on the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer by using a cutting blade, thereby forming the individual separated devices in the condition where the adhesive film is mounted on the lower surface of each device (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-182995, for example).
However, in the case that the thickness of the wafer becomes less than or equal to 100 μm, the separated devices obtained by cutting the wafer with the adhesive film mounted on the lower surface thereof by means of the cutting blade may be vibrated on the adhesive film, so that the devices may be damaged by the impact of the cutting blade rotating at a high speed.